Credit for the edit
The digital maestro at the heart of the Martin Parr Foundation talks us through his image-editing process
Martin will make an initial edit of his images on screen (see pages 44-45) using Phase One Media Pro. Then, before making digital C-Type prints of the pictures for his second edit, I will make some basic adjustments. I’m always looking to bring out what attracted Martin to take the shot in the first place, so it’s all about making subtle tweaks.
To start with, I open the image in Camera Raw and select some general presets – basic things like camera and lens profiles, for example, and chromatic aberration – then add a little bit of contrast.
Next, I make sure that the histogram is broad, but not so much that I’m losing highlight and shadow information. I find that digital camera sensors struggle to accurately represent reds, yellows and greens, so I will knock them back.
To prepare Martin’s images for display in an exhibition, the process is more involved. For this, let’s open his St Ives image (above) in Photoshop. First, I use Levels to check that the image has all the information I need…
1 Non-destructive editing is key I work completely on Adjustment Layers: I want to retain all the original data and manipulate it in as non-destructive a way as possible. 2 Quick Masks save time Focusing on the interplay between the foreground and the background, which is a characteristic of Martin’s work, I think the foliage could do with a boost in contrast. To do this,
I use Quick Mask – it’s a godsend.
Once I’ve made an Adjustment Mask, I’ll exit Quick Mask and invert my mask to create the selection that I need. 3 Curves for contrast
Next, I make a new Curves adjustment layer, and add some contrast to the foreground. To tame the flourescent blue sea and knock back any colours or reds that are too hot, I’m going to create a Hue/Saturation layer and desaturate the master channel. Now I may make a colour adjustment – take out the yellow, add a bit of blue – then make a Brightness/Contrast Adjustment Layer.
Very quickly, I’ve created four Adjustment Layers that in themselves don’t really do much. Taken together, there are enough adjustments to make a subtle change in the image.
Then I’ll save the adjustments unflattened, and print the image out to proof the colours. If I’m not happy with how they look, I could go back over the image several times until I’m happy.